


Stolen Away

by NextTrickAnvils



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akira steals Haru away from her shitty life, F/M, Real Thief AU, Some creepy comments from nameless background characters btw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 07:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20422508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NextTrickAnvils/pseuds/NextTrickAnvils
Summary: During a party meant to "celebrate" her engagement, Haru encounters a mysterious masked young man.(Joker is a real thief AU)





	Stolen Away

As a child, Haru wasn’t fond of her father’s parties, she found them boring and it meant less time for father to be with her. Father always assured her that her dislike was merely due to her childishness and that as she grew older, she would develop an appreciation and see the appeal.

Years later and no she still did not see the appeal.

How could anyone see the appeal of watching various important men giving each other false smiles and compliments to curry favor with each other?

Not only that but Haru would often overhear their conversations, bragging about their cruelties and acts of pettiness. She would never say it in front of her father but it made her skin crawl.

This party in particular has been a difficult one for Haru due to it being a (at least according to father) a celebration of her recent engagement to a politician's son, Takamasa Sugimura. But honestly it felt less like a celebration for her and more like one for her father and Sugimura-san.

All throughout the night, she felt like a porcelain doll being showed off. None of the guests even really talked _ to _ her but rather _ about _ her.

_ “Ha, ha congratulations Sugimura-san.” _

_ “Isn’t she a cute little thing? She’ll make a fine little housewife for you!” _

_ “Oh ho ho! Just out of high school huh? I always say it’s best to catch them young!” _

The comments kept coming and Haru felt more and more uncomfortable and more and more trapped. She… she needed… she needed to...

**SHE NEEDED TO GET OUT OF HERE!**

To everyone’s shock, she pushes away Sugimura and rushes to one of the balconies outside. She then immediately slams the doors shut.

Haru takes several deep breaths and looks around. There was no one out here but her. She sighs with relief as she walks towards the railing and leans against it.

She knows that eventually she has to go back inside and apologize to her father and Sugimura for her behavior. Specifically for creating a scene and potentially embarrassing them both. She might not even go back on her own, she half expects a furious Sugimura to burst through the door and drag her back.

But for now, Haru enjoys the quiet and coolness of the night. 

She stays this way for an unknown amount of time before she hears the sound of footsteps on the balcony. She sighs and turns around, ready with an apology on her lips.

“I’m truly sorry for my behavior earlier, I don’t know what came over...”

Standing before her isn’t Sugimura but rather a young man she has never seen before, with dark messy hair and grey eyes behind a white and black mask. 

‘But the party isn’t a masquerade… why is he…?’ she thinks to herself

“Are you alright, Okumura-san?”

“W-who...?”

The young man smirks and presses his finger against his lips in a shushing motion. He walks towards the balcony doors and places what looks like a cane in the door handles, preventing the doors from opening.

Haru panics briefly, afraid that she was trapped with another monster. But the young man raises his hands and his expression becomes more sincere.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you, I simply don’t want anyone to interrupt us, especially that asshole of a fiancé of yours. I saw you out on this balcony and felt that I just had to help.” 

“But who are you?”

“Let’s say I’m a gentleman with a love for treasure and a weakness for damsels in distress. Now let me ask you again, are you alright Okumura-san?”

It’s a simple question and yet Haru finds herself unable to stop crying. He closes the gap between them and wipes away the tears running down her face.

“It’s alright, let it all out. It’s been a rough night for you hasn’t it?”

Haru looks up at him with an apologetic look, “I-I’m sorry. Y-you must think I’m so childish, a-acting like this...”

He shakes his head and she can see the kindness and sympathy in his eyes.

“Not at all. Go ahead and tell me what’s wrong. It isn’t healthy to keep all of that inside.”

Haru nods and rests her head against her mystery gentleman’s chest.

“I… Father says this party is for me but… as it went on, it became obvious that tonight is about him. Celebrating the connections he’s gained and how much closer he is to his plans to enter politics.”

“I see… and your fiancé?”

She thinks of the same polite line that she’s been told over and over to give about Sugimura whenever someone asks about her thoughts on the engagement. About how he’s an intelligent man with a bright future and she grows angry and let’s her true feelings spill out.

“I CAN’T STAND THAT CREEP! He treats me like a plaything for him to show off in public and to throw around in private! And his friends aren’t much better! Making terrible comments about how I’ll make a “fine little housewife” or how lucky he is to “catch” me just after high school!”

After all that Haru stops to catch her breath and looks up at the gentleman. For a brief moment, she can see a righteous fury burning in his eyes but it’s quickly replaced with a warm fondness.

“You’ve been holding all that in for a while, haven't you? Well... don’t worry Okumura-san, I’ll give these pompous assholes something else to talk about very soon.”

Haru stares at him, wondering what he means by those words until she finally recalls something from the morning.

A black and red calling card sent to her father, promising that tonight his most valuable treasure will be stolen.

“Y-you’re Joker aren’t you?”

The young man looks surprised for a moment and then chuckles.

“Well, well, aren’t you clever? Shame our little moment here had to end but now you should be running back inside to tell your father that I’m here.”

She should do that shouldn’t she? Warn her father that the Great Gentleman Thief Joker had arrived.

But that isn’t what she does… instead she steps away from Joker and raises her arms.

“Then… then HERE I AM! STEAL ME AWAY! I AM MY FATHER’S MOST VALUABLE TREASURE!”

She can feel the tears flowing again and she can tell that Joker knows that she’s lying. Maybe once a long time ago, she could say her father treasured her but…

Joker stares at her and Haru starts to feel foolish. She lowers her arms and walks towards the balcony door.

“...I promise I won’t tell my father, you’re here. Thank you for listening to me.”

However just as she pulls the cane out of the door handles, Joker speaks up.

“Wait… you realize it will be a difficult life...”

“Huh?”

“Tagging along with a master thief? Being on the run? You’d have to say good-bye to a lot of comforts, Okumura-san.”

“...Please... call me Haru... and I would give up everything if it meant I could be happier.”

Joker smirked as he took one of Haru’s gloved hands while the other pulled out a device with a hook on the end. He fires the device and the hook catches on one of the higher balconies. With that, he climbs to the top of the railing, pulls Haru up to join him, and moves his hand to wrap around her waist.

“Don’t worry, I’ve used this thing plenty of times. Now hold on tight, cause on the count of three we jump.”

Haru wraps her arms around Joker as he counts down. Then he reaches one and the two jump off the railing but before long they’re swinging down. Once they were low enough, Joker lets go of his grappling hook and the two tumble to the ground, with Joker cushioning the fall for Haru.

“My goodness that was… that was…!”

Joker chuckles as they stand back up.

“There’ll be more of that in the future. But right now I need you to hide, I still have your father’s treasure to steal and all that shouting is likely going to attract somebody.”

He plants a gentle kiss on Haru’s hand as he assures her that he’ll be right back.

Joker grabs the hanging grappling hook, presses a button, and is immediately pulled up to the higher balcony.

Haru watches in admiration until she hears the sound of doors swinging open. She quickly finds a spot to hide as she hears Sugimura’s voice on the balcony.

“Are you ready to apologi… Haru? HARU!? WHERE ARE YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE...”

That is not the tone of a man worried about his fiancé, that is the tone of a spoiled child angry that he lost his plaything.

Before, that tone scared Haru and made her feel weak.

But now as she turns her attention to Joker smoothly sneaking into her father’s office, she feels that she has nothing to fear.

**Author's Note:**

> I admit the ending could've been better but oh well. *Shrug*
> 
> Ya'll can find me on Tumblr @ https://nexttrickanvils.tumblr.com/ and on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/NextTrickAnvils


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